<p>Thanks for bringing up that point about Tulane’s excellent evacuation plan, Thatmom. It is indeed extremely well organized, with cellphone, text and email alerts, constant contact with the students, administration and parents network, transportation and lodging ready at another University for those who cannot easily get out of town, etc. The students refer to it as “hurrication”. I have no idea if U Miami or any of the other FL schools have similar plans in place. Hopefully they won’t need to test it or use it, but it is indeed comforting to know when one is in place.</p>
<p>University of Miami has a similar plan in place. They have a flight evacuation plan and an arrangement with a University in a safe area to house the students in the unlikely event of a catastrophic hurricane. All the dorms have hurricane shutters and we were told at parent orientation the local police, etc. use the school as a base because it is the safest place around.</p>
<p>Colorstream</p>
<p>You asked me this question:</p>
<p>“SVmom,
Are the kids at UM the down to earth type or into flashy clothes/cars? Since the school is known for its sports, does sports take over the culture of the school?”</p>
<p>There is also a false sense of Miami being a big party school. </p>
<p>I asked my daughter (a freshmen at Miami) to address these questions. Here is what she sent me: </p>
<p>Party School:
I don’t party, so I’ve never been to one. I have friends who do party though, so if you want it, it’s there. I haven’t heard of any parties on campus, and if there were, no one wants to go to them. Basically, if you want to party, just ask around and you’ll find one, and if you don’t, they’re really easy to avoid. To avoid drunken people, live in Stanford (not joking), and don’t stay up into the wee hours of the morning, when everyone’s going to be stumbling home from the parties.</p>
<p>Type of students:
You get both, and a little in-between. I find that the down to earth type people tend to gravitate towards Stanford (dorm), and the flashy cars people tend to gravitate towards Hecht (dorm). But there are rich students who have the flashy clothes and cars that are also down to earth. I’ve only met one of the stereotypical “rich” people in my time here, but that’s OK because no one else in my class can stand her. Same as with the drunkenness, you can find it if you look for it, but it if you don’t want it, it’s easy to avoid.</p>
<p>Sports:
It’s really only the football games, and only during football games. Sure, there’s some sort of fun sport going on a bunch of the time in the fields right outside Stanford, but if you’re not into sports, there’s plenty for you to do. The only time it “takes over the school” if you will, is DURING the actual football game, and even then pretty much only if it’s a home game. If you don’t want to go, it’s a perfect time to do laundry, catch up on homework, watch some TV on your roommates tv because they’re at the game…</p>
<p>Tulane and UM both get high marks in US News Rankings.</p>
<p>No, the football games are off campus for example.</p>
<p>Son ended up applying to U of Miami because they offer a better CS program - he got accepted with merit aid. Not sure if he will go as we did not get a chance to visit Miami this spring break.</p>